


The Silent Ones Are To Be Watched

by XtaticPearl



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Pepper Potts, Domestic Avengers, Dorks in Love, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Silent treatment is the worst, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 04:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5571650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XtaticPearl/pseuds/XtaticPearl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six times an Avenger couple had a silent treatment war. And one time they all did it together and Pepper lost her shit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Silent Ones Are To Be Watched

It all started with Scott. Nobody was surprised. And Clint was maybe jealous. He was used to starting such things off.

_"You little shit, I told you NEVER to tell that to him. NEVER!" Sam was fuming and rattling Scott by his shirt lapels. Scott was trying to get a word in but was generally just shaking. Or being shaken. Literally._

_"Sam..Sa-am..oh god stop," Scott called his suit to him, which effectively pushed Sam off and promptly turned him into his preferred ant size. This was one of the extremely rare times he was glad he could be smaller than his boyfriend._

_Scott was so glad that Sam wasn't wearing his costume and couldn't see him. And yep, of course Sam had gotten his suit upgraded just like Scott. Of course he'd be able to call his bloody costume too. Oh, nice, now he was glaring at Scott directly. "Hey there, big fella," Scott tried weakly with a pitiful smile but Sam simply growled._

_The bed was the first to break. Then the mirror_

_"-GOD! Sam you fucker, stop it!"_

_And the coffee table._

_"Shit! Sorry, sorry, sorry! Now, come on, you know I didn't mean to get the face! Okay now you're starting to hiss. Sam?..OW!"_

_The ancient rocking chair that Sam had bought for Scott. You know, now Scott was just hurt._

_"-Scott, ow ow ow, not the wrist, asshole! I swear, you're never getting handjobs again!"_

_The Warhol’s Soup Cans crashed and shattered. Sam looked a little guilty now._

_"THAT.WAS.A.MASTERPIECE! Aaaaahhhhh! I'm gonna kill you..argh!"_

_They both nearly brought down the picture wall. Nearly._

_"Truce!" Well, that was synchronized._

_Sam was slightly heaving and Scott switched back to his normal form, eyeing the still rigid looking Falcon._

_"I...Look, it wasn't intentional," Scott started soothingly, both hands raised to mid-level, like he was facing a hurt animal._

_Which was probably right. Change 'animal' to 'fanboy' and you get the same difference._

_"One thing. The only thing I ask of you is to never, never ever tell Captain America that you kicked my ass and stole the tech the first time. It's pretty simple to understand that right? Never, it usually means not in this lifetime?" Sam was glaring at a huffing Scott who was desperately failing with his puppy face trick._

_"Dude, it was an accident! We were all joking about shit and it just slipped out. And anyway, it doesn't even matter anymore. It's been two years, Wilson, you'd think Steve's seen me kick your ass more than once in these two years!" Scott pointed out defensively. So maybe it was not the right thing to say but come on! He'd come back from a shitty mission, fighting idiotic drone spiders. With one of the idiots almost clipping his mask. He'd just sat through half an hour of mothering from his 'ridiculously hot when all huffy' boyfriend and now all he wanted was to get some sleep, maybe cuddle and just drop this shit. It wasn't every day that your seven year old daughter is having a sleepover at Pepper Potts' place and you get a whole night with your partner._

_And now Sam was wearing his mean and twitchy look. Great, now things will end well, Scott thought sarcastically._

_There were mentions of things in the verbal torrent that Scott and Sam would never want Cassie to hear. But, she wasn't here, so hey, free speech!_

_There was the mandatory genitalia comment "You need to stop sucking on Captain America's dick all the time! Ok, stop twitching, I meant it metaphorically, seriously stop twitching with your feathers!"_

_And the maturity level comment "You've got the maturity level of Clint without coffee on a Monday morning before eight!" Scott was partly proud of Sam for that comment but partly insulted too._

_Of course, the comparison with your kid comment "Seriously, even Cassie has better common sense AND sense of humor than you. And don't get me started on the ability to fall of a building while literally just standing there!"_

_There must have been a hundred more because when finally Sam got up and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him, Scott noticed that it had been nearly an hour since they started._

_The tired guy sighed and sat on his bed morosely. He'd just wanted to cuddle with Sam. Was that too much to ask?_

"You're nesting" Clint pointed out when he found Scott curled up in front of the TV, buried in the fluffy I CAN SEE YOU Falcon blanket. It was a joke he had gotten from Sam for Christmas. Only Cassie was allowed to use it apart from him. Even Steve didn't get to share it, no matter how amused he looked. 

"Go away," Scott mumbled through a mouthful of chocolate popcorn, not even looking up at Clint "Not nesting"

"Totally nesting," Clint smirked, snagging a handful of popcorn from the bucket on the couch "Okay, that's weird. I stole your food and you're still not moving. Who died?"

"Buzz off" there wasn't even snark in his retort and Clint was now frowning.

"Dude seriously, who pissed in your popcorn? You've been acting weird since morning." Clint nudged Scott with his hip, but the taller man simply burrowed further into his blanket fort.

"Lang, I can literally pluck you out of there and do this thing, so start talking," Clint flicked a finger on the back of Scott's head "What's wrong with you weirdos? Wilson's sulking too. And he has a nicely forming bruise on his face."

"Yeah, well he started it," Scott could hear the whine in his voice and listen, even Dads can whine like needy teenagers, okay? And he had tried to get some medicine applied on that bruise. Well that was in vain, wasn't it?

"And you're continuing it, which means I'll finish it, even if I have to put an arrow through both your thick skulls," Clint waved his hand dismissively "Honestly, you're spreading your brooding germs into my fresh air, it's getting suffocating with all that emo shit. What's going on?"

Scott muttered under his breath and pushed off his blanket a little.

"He's giving me an ST" Scott grunted and Clint's eyebrows shot into his hair.

"Are you missing a D there somewhere or am I missing something?" he didn't flinch when Scott scowled up at him.

"ST. Sile..Silent treatment" Scott shuddered involuntarily at the words, like they were bugs crawling up his skin. He  **hated** the silent treatment. It was the worst thing ever, even worse than people who read out loud what they're typing in an email or letter. Something they had learnt after the last ST incident that was a year back. 

They were good, clean from STs for a whole year. Top that, sober Tony Stark!

"And?" Clint persisted, still frowning. Silent treatment, that was easy to handle, right? He had dealt with Coulson for more than six years now, so he was kind of used to silent, stoic men with one word humor.

"And?  _And?_ I've tried everything. Every frickin thing!" Scott was flailing his hands for emphasis and Clint was getting slightly worried about getting a black eye from one of those "I followed him around like a puppy dog, I tried seducing him by wearing his favorite dirty-"

"-and I don't need to hear that" Clint interjected quickly

"I tried to help with breakfast. I even offered to do the dishes.  _Dishes_ , Clint. With the soap and the gloves and the lather and the scrubbing. Me, dishes! Not a word. Not one word. He's not even  _looking_ at me!" Scott hissed the last sentence like it was a personal insult.

"Did you try apologizing?" Clint suggested vaguely.

"How do you even know that I should be the one apologizing?" Scott groused with narrowed eyes.

Clint just gave him a  _look_ and raised an eyebrow. And Scott was reminded that the archer was dating Phil Coulson, so he did the whole  _look_ thing really well now.

"Urgh, fine!" Scott threw his hands up and sulked "I told Steve something about Sam that was supposed to be a secret. But I apologized. Kind of. Maybe. There was a note involved. That might have been wet because it was kept under the soap." Scott looked thoughtful about the last part, wondering if Sam had gotten the note or not.

"You kept an apology note in the bathroom, under the soap?" Clint was seriously doubtful about this new record of stupidity.

"Hey, he may forget to fluff his pillows, make his bed or wear his watch from the bedside table. But will he forget to use the soap for his bath?" Scott pointed out triumphantly and Clint shook his head, because yes, the record was broken alright.

"What was the secret?" Clint tried another approach, already feeling stuck sorting out this strange relationship issue, but trapped by his own stupid concern for his stupid teammates.

"Oh no no no, not falling for that one." Scott raised his chin and gave a confident smirk.

Which totally fell when Sam came around and sat on the couch. Just watching the TV. Totally ignoring the other occupants of the couch. 

"Hey, Sam" Clint called out.

"Hey, Clint" Sam turned and sent him a smile before looking back the TV.

"Hey, Sam" Scott tried, even throwing in a small wave as bonus.

The score of the football game was the only noise in response.

"Want some popcorn?" Scott persisted.

The volume of the TV increased a notch.

"It has chocolate in it. Just the way you like." Scott offered, even shaking the bowl in front of Sam.

"Hey, Clint, want to go grab something to eat? I'm starving" Sam turned and looked right past Scott at Clint. Who was left receding into himself with all this awkwardness.

"Erm..sure man. But maybe we could just sit here and have this delicious popcorn, right here?" Clint really wasn't equipped to handle relationship problems.

"I'd like to go out for some pizza!" Scott piped up looking hopeful.

Sam gave Clint a warm smile above Scott's head, like Clint was his best friend. And okay, Scott's face was falling rapidly, farther down Steve's kicked puppy face.

"I'd really like to go out and have pizza, man. Just the two of us. What say? A guys' day out." Sam got up and walked over Scott's outstretched legs to Clint and slapped him on the back.

"Huh? Erm.." Clint looked at Scott who was staring at Sam with genuine hurt "Sam, dude, seriously. Let's just stay in and order pizza. Or let's  _all_ go out. You know, Avengers day out?"

Something flickered in Sam's eyes for a second before his smile widened and he, holy shit what, reached out and hugged Clint. No, seriously, this wasn't even a one-armed bro-hug. It was a full-on 'I love you and you are my family' hug. Which was fine if Clint didn't know that this was all part of the attempt to exclude Scott.

"Clint, you are such an amazing individual and friend. You think so much about me and the others, brother. I am truly lucky and proud to be your friend." Sam said and clapped Clint on his shoulder one last time before walking away.

"Wait, so are we ordering in or going out?" Clint yelled after the retreating Sam but no reply came across.

Clint sighed and rubbed his eyes warily. He turned to look at Scott and winced inwardly. Yep, worse than the kicked puppy. 

"Scott, man, look.." Clint started only to be cut off with Scott shaking his head.

"No, let it be. Thanks..thanks, Clint" Scott didn't have to say the reason for his thanks but Clint was starting to feel really guilty in some way because somehow, he had only made things worse. Wasn't that a kicker?

Before Clint could say anything more, Scott got up and walked out the door, presumably going out to get some air.

_Well, shit._

_\--------------------_

Sam was cleaning his wings when the ball of paper hit him sharply at the back of his head. He sighed and ignored it.

The next ball was bigger and sharper.

"Cut it out, Lang," he snapped, without looking back.

"You cut it out, Wilson," Steve shot back and Sam turned around to find a smiling Steve Rogers standing at the entrance of the training room.

"Hey, Rogers. What's up? Tony not polishing your shield anymore?" Sam quipped in a perfectly normal voice, thank you very much.

"Is that the only reason I should come down here?" Steve perched himself on the edge of the table and looked at the wings in Sam's hands.

"Well, you haven't destroyed any robotic punching bags in months, so consider it a lucky guess," Sam shrugged, pointedly avoiding Steve's eyes.

"Well, consider yourself unlucky, because you're wrong," Steve snorted.

Sam hummed in response and went on with his methodical cleaning. It was a therapeutic activity for him. It made him calm and helped in distracting him from other thoughts. Like Scott. Who had conveniently ratted him out to Steve. Who was also not hovering over him for the past few hours. Sam paused his cleaning for a second. _Should he be worried?_  He shook the thought off. A little silent treatment was good for the tattlemouth.

"How many years have you known me for now, Sam?" Steve asked quietly and Sam looked up with a frown at the tone. It sounded... _sad_.

"Three years, why? Did we miss an anniversary or something?" Sam's attempt at humor was falling flat so bad, he was left wiping the floor off it's mess.

Steve was staring at him with disappointed eyes. 

Oh.  _Oh_.

"Look, it was just..I didn't expect an ant to be so strong, alright? I wasn't..it was just a misjudged call, that's all. We got the tech back too, kind of." Sam tried explaining himself but he was desperately trying to form a full sentence.

Steve's sad expression only worsened.

"You think...Sam, do you think I'm disappointed in you because Scott stole something from us years back?" Steve asked with genuine hurt reflecting in his voice.

"It was an important tech, I know." Sam grumbled.

"It was..It was  _three years back_ , Sam" Steve sounded genuinely surprised "It was something nobody could expect and Pym used it for something useful. And I've taken hits from Scott. I know how strong the guy can get. Even you've got kicked down by him, many times if I may say. So, what exactly happened that you had to hide it from me and break up with Scott for letting it slip?"

"Wait, what?" Sam jerked back and frowned "Break up what? What the hell? Who told you that?"

"Clint"

"I'm not...we're not breaking up!" Sam asserted, wondering where Clint got the thought and panicking if Scott wanted to break up with him "Wait, where did Clint get the idea from? Did Scott tell him that? Where is Scott? God, that idiot!"

"So, you're not breaking up with him?" Steve looked far too amused for Sam's liking.

"Are you kidding me? No! What the hell? It was just a stupid fight! Why would I break up with him over a stupid fight like that?" Sam was looking at the door now, itching to go and find his boyfriend who apparently thought that they were breaking up. 

"Well, Clint told Coulson that Scott was, I quote, 'brooding like a hurt puppy and leaving the Tower because of stupid popcorn hating assholes'. Coulson told me that I should talk to said popcorn hating assholes because apparently I was involved in some way. I really don't like hurting puppies so I figured I'd come and sort things out with you. What exactly happened?"

Sam sighed heavily at the idiotic turn of events. It was childish and he knew it. It wasn't even Scott's fault in any way. There was nothing to hide according to him, because Scott didn't see Sam as a side-kick. He didn't think that Sam had to prove himself worthy to anyone. He trusted Sam for who he was, with or without high-tech wings attached to his back.

And now Scott was thinking that Sam wanted to break up with him. Which was absolutely ridiculous, if the hidden jewelry box in Sam's bag was anything to go by.

"I just..I didn't want to disappoint you. I wanted you to be able to trust me with..important things. I guess I wanted to impress you." Sam shrugged, feeling awkward in admitting the truth. It was silly, he knew it. They were best friends now. Steve wasn't just Captain America anymore and Sam was an Avenger too. But he'd had a little trouble getting over the constant need to impress the blond supersoldier.

Steve stared at Sam hard for a minute before closing his eyes and sighing. He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Always get the idiots" but Sam didn't concentrate on it.

"Do you think Natasha is insensitive?" Steve asked sternly.

"No" the answer was without any second thought.

"Do you think Bruce is weak?" 

"No" Sam had seen the doctor's mental strength saving their collective asses a lot many times. More than Hulk did, actually.

"Do you think Clint is not trustworthy?"

"No" The archer kept the skies clear for all his teammates and destroyed anyone who tried to hurt them.

"Do you think Thor is prejudiced?"

"No" The blond God had time and again respected humans enough to prove himself.

"Do you think Vision or Wanda are not team players?"

"No" Absolutely not.

"Do you think Tony is useless without the armor?"

"No" Sam trusted Tony Stark's brain more than Iron Man's repulsors.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"No" Sam had seen Steve's sharp mind help in the worst situations.

"Then why are you insulting all of us?"

The question threw Sam off a bit. He must have looked shocked because Steve's face relaxed a little.

"Sam, all of us, every single one of us, trust you with our lives. We have seen you time and again be the calming force of the team - the one person who would be ablse to see through a panic situation and pull us back to the ground. We've always known that you have our back, front and center. You are an Avenger. An important part of this family. We believe that. I believe that. Have I ever done anything that has told you otherwise? If so, I'm sorry. But please, don't insult us by thinking that we'd trust someone not worthy of our trust."

Sam was silent for a long time. He remembered Scott saying something similar during last night's fight.

_You're amazing as you are Sam. One lost fight or failed mission doesn't change that. Steve sees you as his friend, not side-kick. You're a hero. Stop putting yourself down for stupid incidents of the past._

"I screwed up, huh?" Sam mumbled, looking up and giving Steve a watery smile.

"I think Tony rubbed off on you a bit," Steve gave him a pass with the tease.

"I should go look for my boyfriend," Sam said with a small smile. Steve merely huffed a chuckle and cuffed Sam lightly at the back of his head before shaking his head and leaving.

Sam smiled despite himself and decided to make things right.

\----------------------------------------------

Scott was freezing by the time he entered the Tower. He was immeasurably thankful for Jarvis' intuitive heating when some of the cold passed with the warmth. Pulling his jacket closer, he trudged out into his floor and saw that it was absolutely quiet. He sighed and mentally thanked Pepper for holding back Cassie till tomorrow morning. The kid adored Sam, sometimes more than Scott, and would have become indefinitely sad with the fight.

"Took you long enough," Scott did not jump at the voice behind him, thank you very much. He did however scowl and turned to see Sam.

Wearing a MY FAVORITE DEFEND-ANT t-shirt that had Ant-Man's silhouette in it.  _Was he trying to be cruel now?_

"It was a long road," Scott muttered in reply, crossing his arms defensively. Sam's soft smile was doing nothing good to Scott's hurt feelings, well, except for making him want to bear-hug him.

"We should buy a new bed," Sam commented, with a glance in the side of the their bedroom.

Scott frowned slightly but didn't answer.

"And get another masterpiece painting for the wall. Well, maybe we should fix the cracks on the wall first," Sam quipped in that notorious teasing voice of his. 

Scott's limits were getting seriously threatened now.

"I should also start looking for another rocking chair. You're already hitting like a grandpa." Sam pushed the last mile and Scott broke.

"Stop. Stop it." he whispered and got a good look at the slight marks of a healing bruise.

"It's nothing. It doesn't hurt as much as.." Sam couldn't complete the sentence and settled for looking anxiously into Scott's eyes.

 _As you are hurting. As we are hurting_. Scott could fill in between the lines.

He didn't want to risk a step forward. Couldn't do it. He had spent the whole day replaying the entire fight over and over in his head. He desperately wanted to be okay, wanted them to be okay, but he couldn't risk taking the first step now.

Which is why Sam did it. One step, then another and finally,  _finally_ , his forehead was resting against Scott's and his arms were curling around the shivering man's waist. He didn't force anything, didn't do anything. Just stood there, silently letting Scott take his strength and his warmth.

"Are we..are we okay?" Scott whispered finally, forcing his eyes to stay open and look at the black eyes just inches away from him.

"Yeah, we're okay Scottie" Sam whispered back with a tender smile and felt Scott shudder involuntarily, rubbing soothing circles at his waist.

"Good." Scott said, a small smile making it's way to his lips.

"Good" Sam agreed, nudging the other man's nose slightly with his own.

"Cassie'll be back tomorrow morning. We'll have to make up a story for the trashed room before that," Scott informed, closing his eyes and smiling.

"We'll do that" Sam agreed again, relief coursing through his heart at the smile on Scott's face "But first, we have to talk."

Scott froze for a second and Sam kicked himself for putting it that way.

"About me...why I told...about the stupid secret." Sam explained and saw Scott look at him calculatingly for a minute before nodding. Taking his boyfriend's hand, Sam took him to the very couch where the whole popcorn drama happened and made him sit down. Scott must have sensed the tension in Sam's hands because he didn't let go of them even after sitting.

And then Sam started talking. He spoke about how he'd been in awe of Captain America. How he'd wanted to impress him. How he'd felt the failed mission as a personal loss. Sam told Scott about every single detail. And Scott listened, without interrupting or reacting.

When Sam reached the part of Steve chiding him for feeling insecure, Scott had a small smile on his lips. The smile got wider when Sam moaned about Clint being an idiot and giving him hell before telling him that Scott had just gone out to get some air. 

"I don't want to break up with you," Sam said, holding Scott's gaze firmly "We've been together through worse and better times. We have a daughter together. We're practically married. I don't think I can let you go. Not now. Not ever."

"Even if I reveal all your secrets to the others?" Scott asked, a teasing smile in place.

"Not now, not ever," Sam maintained before thinking twice "Though it'd probably be wise to not tell them about the bedroom stuff. God knows, Clint scars us enough with TMI."

Scott chuckled at that and nodded "Deal. Now, can we just kiss and have mindless makeup sex?"

Sam snorted at that "Yeah, yeah, sparky. But after another bit. I've got one more thing to say. Actually ask."

Scott actually whined this time. "All these emotional things are making me cranky now. Can't we do this tomorrow?"

"Nope" Sam grinned and dug into his jean pocket to bring out what looked like... _Oh shit._

"Scott Denis Lang-"

"Yes"

"-will you-"

"YES"

"-marry me?"

"I said yes already!" Scott grinned and plucked the ring off Sam's finger and was about to put it on himself.

"I wanted to do it properly. Like this." Sam took back the ring and slid it on his grinning fiance's finger.

"Proper, schmoper. We're practically married already. You said so, yourself." Scott retorted even as he wound his arms around Sam's neck and pulled him closer.

"Is that why you've been sneaking around my stuff for the past week, dropping hints about 'a small box for an ant'?" Sam teased back, leaning in and hovering just above the smiling lips.

"Cassie's going to freak out." Scott whispered against Sam's lips.

"We'll ban sugar till the wedding," Sam grinned and brushed Scott's lips again.

"Except for chocolate popcorn?" Scott asked with a sly grin.

Sam burst out laughing and closed the distance finally.

 _Thank god for chocolate popcorn_.


End file.
